Why Did the U.S. Sanction the Shiite Palestinian Movement Supported by Iran?

On February 1, the United States placed another Palestinian movement named Saberine on its sanctions list alongside Ismail Haniyeh, the new head of Hamas's political bureau, deeming its activities as part of the expansion of global terrorism. While the relationship between Hamas and Iran has long been known to the public, the close ties of Saberine with Iran have not been widely recognized. What is Saberine and what does it do? While nearly all Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are Sunni, and Hamas emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood, Saberine consists of Palestinians who have converted to Shiism in recent years due to Iranian support and repeated trips to Iran; this is a completely rare and marginal phenomenon among Palestinians in the region and the world. Saberine also has close connections and cooperation with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The logo of Saberine is an exact copy of Hezbollah's logo, differing only in that its color is orange instead of Hezbollah's well-known yellow. Israeli military studies centers have long regarded Saberine as 'another arm of Iran among Palestinians' and state that Iran exclusively provides all the funding and weapons for Saberine, while Hamas has received support from other sources, such as Qatar and Muslim Brotherhood supporters. Saberine apparently began its work in 2011 under the abbreviation 'Husn,' which stands for 'Saberine Movement for the Victory of Palestine.' Hisham Salem, the Secretary-General of Saberine, split from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, traveled to Iran multiple times, converted to Shiism, and upon returning to Gaza, formed Saberine with several other factions disillusioned from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Mashregh News, a website close to Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, wrote in April 2015 that Saberine is 'the closest Palestinian resistance group to the discourse of the Islamic Revolution' and added that 'the movement of charitable and relief organizations provided a very suitable ground for many Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to become acquainted with the Shiite school, and during this time, a significant number of them announced their conversion to Shiism, which laid the groundwork for the formation of the first Shiite Palestinian resistance group in the Gaza Strip named Saberine.' Mashregh News also introduced Hisham Salem and his activities and recalled that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stated, 'Wherever, any nation, any group fights against the Zionist regime, we stand behind them and help them, and we have no hesitation in saying this; this is the truth and reality.' According to Israel Defense, an Israeli website reflecting military and security issues of the country and the region, Iran's action in forming and strengthening Saberine was a result of the cold relations between Tehran and Hamas following Hamas's refusal to intervene in the Syrian war in favor of Bashar al-Assad's government. This report states that although the cooling of relations between Iran and Palestinian Islamic Jihad was not as severe as that with Hamas, it encouraged Iran to form a new movement among Palestinians. As the name Saberine gained popularity in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which was also formed by Iran and whose Secretary-General Ramadan Abdullah Shalah has been a permanent guest of Iranian leaders for all these years, issued statements against Saberine and deemed the establishment of this new group as 'futile.' However, Hisham Salem stated, 'Any prohibition on the continuation of Saberine's work will be a historical mistake.' Saberine, like Iran and the Houthis in Yemen, condemns the airstrikes of the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and supports the Houthis; while Hamas, despite Khaled Mashal, the former head of Hamas's political bureau, and many leaders of this movement being in Qatar and under the support of the Qatari government, has managed to maintain relations with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies. According to Israel Defense, Saberine operates in three areas: paramilitary, cyber, and social in the Gaza Strip. Posters of 'Imam' Ruhollah Khomeini can be seen at the entrances of Saberine's offices in Gaza; these offices distribute Shiite propaganda materials received from Iran along with financial and food aid sent from Iran among needy Palestinians. Palestinian Shiite activists involved in Saberine have repeatedly complained that Hamas's security agencies, which are responsible for Gaza's affairs, have detained and searched them multiple times in recent years. Palestinian media reported in the summer of 2015 that Hamas had made a serious decision to 'dissolve' Saberine and close its offices; however, this decision was not implemented, and since then, Hamas has practically tolerated Saberine, but according to Israel Defense, Hamas is always careful to keep Saberine's activities limited and under its supervision. However, Salafi groups in Gaza are strongly opposed to Saberine and have repeatedly attacked the centers of Saberine's 'charitable' organizations. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, recently sent messages to the commanders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and also had phone conversations with them, expressing readiness for 'Iran's support for Palestinian resistance,' according to Yahya Sinwar, the new internal leader of Hamas in Gaza. These contacts have been interpreted as the end of a few years of cold relations between Iran and Hamas. Hamas has also signaled a green light for the warming of its relations with Iran. However, it remains unclear what effect the renewed closeness between Hamas and Iran will have on Saberine. Although, according to Israel Defense, Iran will continue to support Saberine to strengthen the Shiite axis in the region, as this poses a tacit threat to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that if they do not comply with Iran, Tehran has other ways to pursue its goals among Palestinians.